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SOCIETY
OF COMPOSERS, INC
"Transcendencies"
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Cover
Design: Gerald Warfield & Richard
Brooks |
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Track
Listing & Audio Samples
Need
Help with Audio?
| Jack Fortner | ||||
| 1. | Symphonies (20:23) | |||
| Filarmonia de Stat Transylvania (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) | ||||
| Jack Fortner, conductor | ||||
| Jonathan Sheffer | ||||
| 2. | Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra (16:01) | |||
| Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra | ||||
| Petter Sundkvist, conductor | ||||
| Anders Paulsson, soprano saxophone | ||||
| Ann S. Hankinson | ||||
| 3. | light/shadow (7:47) | |||
| Arctic Chamber Orchestra | ||||
| Madeline F. Schatz, conductor | ||||
| Morris Moshe Cotel | ||||
| 4. | Five Quatrains (5:24) | |||
| Lucy Chang, flute | ||||
| Rié Suzuki, clarinet | ||||
| Thomas Bithel, trumpet | ||||
| Kevin Winkler, celesta | ||||
| Victoria Chiang, viola | ||||
| Thomas Kraines, cello | ||||
| James Neng-Hsien Ho | ||||
| 5. | Bon (5:32) | |||
| Cheng-Mei Sun, violin | ||||
| Wei-Te Sung, clarinet | ||||
| Chin-I Lee, bassoon | ||||
| Chung-Sheng Chen, trombone | ||||
| Chia-Ho Lee, harp | ||||
| Bor-Tsen Yeh & Li-Chen Wu, percussion | ||||
| Hwei-Ming Two, conductor | ||||
| Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez | ||||
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6. |
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| Princeton Composers Ensemble | ||||
| Steven Mackey, director | ||||
| Tara Helen O'Connor, flutes | ||||
| Marianne Gythfeldt, clarinets | ||||
| Sara Laimon, piano | ||||
| Danny Tunick, vibraphone | ||||
| John Ferrari, marimba | ||||
| Christine Sohn & Jacquie Carrasco, violins | ||||
| John Whitfield, cello | ||||
| Michael Pratt, conductor | ||||
| Zack Browning | ||||
| 7. | Breakpoint Screamer (7:01) | |||
| Michael Ewald, trumpet I | ||||
| Sal Percoco, trumpet II | ||||
| Carlos Saenz, trumpet III | ||||
| James Zingara, trumpet IV | ||||
| Kevin Vox, trumpet V | ||||
| Zack Browning, conductor |
All Recordings by the
Society of Composers, Inc.
Related Links
Mélange CPS-8755 Mood Shifts CPS-8748 Soundscapes CPS-8741 Cornucopia CPS-8725 Sonic Images CPS-8712 Milestones CPS-8701 Inspirations CPS-8690 Cultivated Choruses CPS-8674 Inner Visions CPS-8670 Connections CPS-8660 Transcendencies CPS-8656 Chamber Works CPS-8651 Illuminations CPS-8643 Grand Designs CPS-8639 Intimate Thoughts CPS-8632 Evocations CPS-8631 Extended Resources CPS-8626 Songfest CPS-8618 Contra-Punctus CPS-8615 America Sings! CPS-8613 Potpourri CPS-8609 View from the Keyboard CPS-8606
• Society of Composers, Inc.
Reviews
Fanfare - March/April 1999 - by John Story
"Stories is the third of a series of works for solo performer and electronics by Michael Kallstrom. The present work is described as "a chamber opera for solo performer with puppets and electronic tape based on old testament stories from the King James bible with original texts by the composer…. The texts tend to be a combination of more or less conventional narrative with segments using a more contemporary vernacular to portray individual moments, such as the voice of God in Forbidden Fruit, about the fall of Adam and Eve. Musically, Kallstrom uses a kind of vaguely melismatic recitative with a pop-oriented accompaniment interspersed with more-or-less pop songs. Obviously the visual component is missing here, but it is hard to imagine the visual that would make an unrelieved hour of Kallstrom's wavery voice and mushy diction in the very unadventurous musical context a bearable experience.
The combination of classically trained voice and electronics has been used to exquisite effect by Milton Babbitt and Kaija Saariaho in works written for Bethany Beardslee and Dawn Upshaw respectively. From the popular side of the aisle, one immediately thinks of such theatrical works as United States and Empty Spaces by Laurie Anderson. I saw the latter (it uses about half the songs from Anderson's Strange Angels CD) in what was one of the more astonishing evenings I have ever spent in the theater. I am also reminded of a contemporary Ordu Virtuum, with synthesizers instead of hurdy-gurdies as the accompaniment. How effective Stories would be with another vocalist is an open question. Much of the music is attractive, although some of the text work, such as the battle between David and Goliath as a battle of high versus low culture, is incredibly precious. One has to assume that the present recording is a complete reflection of the composer's wishes.
To judge from the notes, the work has been successfully presented all over the country, so perhaps this is best thought of as a repeatable version of a hopefully pleasant memory of an evening spent in the theater, much as one would buy a movie or show recording. Not having seen the work in the flesh I will pass."
Website by Alexej Steinhardt